About This Book

Our dogs come in all shapes, sizes, and personalities. From goofy to guard, from hero to ham, and everywhere in between, our dogs are important and beloved members of our families. They can be so good, and then they can be not-so-good, but boy do they give us great stories! Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Dog will have readers of all breeds laughing, commiserating, and maybe even shedding a tear. These 101 heartwarming, humorous and completely true stories about our canine companions are sure to touch every dog lover's soul. Perfect for "man's best friend's" best friend.

More from Chicken Soup for the Soul

Five truths you should accept to make the most of the dog in your life.
Inspired by Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Dog by Amy Newmark; Foreword by Robin Ganzert

Whether they’re very good or very bad, our canine companions often amaze us with their abilities! From goofy to guard and from hero to ham, we’ve got the stories, and the stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Dog will help you see your own dog with new appreciation for its intuition, compassion, and intelligence. Here are five truths you should accept to make the most of the dog in your life:

Your dog can unite your family. Most teens are too "cool" to hang out with their families. But a Bichon Frise named Chip changed that for the Muller family. At thirteen, Val Muller didn’t hide away in her room after dinner, or bury her nose in her cell phone like most of her friends. Instead, Val, her parents, and younger sister would all follow Chip into the family room and play. "We’d teach him new tricks or reinforce his old ones," Val shares. "We’d help Dad create a new chew toy… or collaborate on an obstacle course of buckets, blankets, and toys. The important thing is that we’d do this together as a family." And Chip continued to bring the family together as Val and her sister grew into adults. Val writes, "Chip strengthened our responsibility, confidence, companionship, love, creativity, and togetherness."

Your dog will end up in the bed and on the furniture. Everyone obeyed Elizabeth Greenville's "furniture is for people, not dogs" rule, including the family pets. That is, until a Golden Retriever puppy named Landon joined them. One afternoon Elizabeth returned home to find Landon not in the back yard where she left him, but on the deck's glider. She let that slide, because it was only outdoor furniture. After that, Elizabeth would catch him on furniture inside. Despite constant reprimands, Landon routinely snuck onto the comfortable furniture for lengthy naps. Now, nearly a decade later, Elizabeth has relaxed her no-furniture rule. "We both have agreed that rules, once so important, are no longer necessary," she shares. "Now, Landon is invited to join me on the sofa when I read."

Your dog is a natural therapist. At her therapist's suggestion, Jessica Snell adopted Callie, a fluffy, medium-sized black mutt, to help with her anxiety disorder. And Callie did make Jessica feel safer, until she realized she had to leave the safety of her apartment to walk the dog. "It was the exact opposite of everything my anxiety disorder screamed at me to do," Jessica shares. But Callie's trust in her got her outside. "Callie became both my reason for going outside and also my protection when I did," Jessica writes. "With Callie on a leash, I began to fight my fears."

Your dog just wants to protect you. When a loud bang sounds during the Fourth of July parade, Lucy Beebe Tobias knows there is no danger. Her Boxer-Golden Retriever mix Suzi, on the other hand, doesn’t know this. Suzi starts to drag Lucy the four blocks home, despite Lucy's many protests. "Suzi then does something I’ve never seen her do before or since," Lucy shares. "She squares her shoulders, expands her chest, puts her head down and takes one deliberate step away from the parade, then another step." And Suzi doesn’t stop until they're inside the house. "She collapses on the kitchen floor, panting, mission accomplished," Lucy writes. "My four-legged protector has brought her human out of danger and into the only safe place she knows—home."

Your dog may want his own pet. The last thing Jeanne Getz Pallos expected when her husband rescued a baby rabbit was that their Golden Retriever Autumn would befriend the bunny. Especially since the rabbit, now named Thumper, kept trying to exert dominance over the larger animal. "Instead of hurting the rabbit, Autumn made a game of Thumper’s attempts to show his power," Jeanne writes. "When Thumper charged, Autumn barked and lunged forward as if playing with a puppy. Then she started running in huge circles while Thumper ran after her. We watched from the kitchen window as an unusual friendship began to blossom." Now both rabbit and dog stretch out on the family room floor at night and watch TV with Jeanne and her husband.